The EU Court of Justice dismisses the appeal against the General Court’s judgment highlighting that essential national interests may justify deviation from the normal public procurement procedure (Achemos & Achema)

State Aid and Essential National Interest*Introduction State aid should support outcomes that the market by itself cannot achieve. This implies that State aid that is restricted to only one or a few undertakings is unlikely to be capable of delivering the desired outcome. Yet, sometimes there may be good reasons for restricting the beneficiaries of State aid. On 29 April 2021, the Court of Justice dealt with this issue in case C‑847/19 P, Achemos Grupė & Achema v European Commission, concerning the direct award of a contract to the operator an LNG terminal in Lithuania. [1] The judgment of the Court is important because it highlights that essential national interests may justify deviation from the normal public procurement procedures. Deviating from public procurement rules by,